Stress is Making You Fat!
Finding an outlet or a way to de-stress is crucial to managing your weight, shape and not least your sanity! (Try the 5min breathing exercise below).
The body does not differentiate between different types of stress whether mental (work, time pressure, exams, financial worries), physical (illness, recovery, over-exercise) or emotional (grief, relationship issues).
The body responds physiologically to any prolonged stress in the same way - by producing cortisol.
Cortisol hormone will raise your blood sugar levels to provide energy during this time. High blood sugar levels lead to a spike in insulin levels which stores the excess glucose as fat around the belly.
Exercise is an ideal outlet but be aware of endurance-type exercise which can further stress the body. Instead look to working out for short bursts of high intensity and include more passive or calming workouts like restorative yoga or long walks to your exercise schedule.
Our online 6 Week Belly Buster programme to lose inches from around your midsection includes 15min, high intensity interval workout videos to follow at home. For more free tips on how to reduce your cortisol levels and to find out about the programme register here.
Try this 5min Yogic Breathing Routine to clear your head and increase oxygen to the brain - a great way to start the day.
